Backup plan? Akers gets the start, but Cundiff still on the roster

David Akers will get the start today, but will he be on a “miss count?”

David Akers. (AP)

On Thursday, Jim Harbaugh didn’t completely rule out the possibility that newly signed Billy Cundiff could also be active in the divisional playoffs against the Packers.

“To be determined,” Harbaugh said. “Most likely not.”

Of course, if the 49ers are planning on having Cundiff in the bullpen in the event Akers struggles, why would Harbaugh acknowledge it? It’s not the type of indirect public diss a coach wants to give a struggling kicker who has been fighting to retain his job and rediscover his confidence.

On Friday, the NFL Network reported the 49ers hadn’t ruled out keeping both kickers active.

** Akers has a solid postseason history, but he’s not far removed from a difficult playoff memory: The last contest of his 12-year, 207-game tenure with the Eagles on Jan. 9, 2011, was a painful one, personally and professionally.

Two days before that wild-card game against the Packers, Akers and his wife, Erika, were told their then-6-year-old daughter had a potentially malignant cyst on her left ovary that had to be surgically removed. Akers played less than 24 hours before his daughter’s follow-up appointment and missed field goals of 41 and 34 yards in a 21-16 loss to Green Bay.

Eagles coach Andy Reid, who knew about the medical condition of Akers’ daughter (she’s now cancer-free), offered a cold postgame assessment of his kicker’s performance.

“We can all count,” Reid said. “Those points would have helped.”

Last year, Akers said he was initially stung by Reid’s words, but didn’t carry a grudge.

“I really believe Andy kind of separated David Akers the player versus David Akers the person,” he said.